Travel Diary: Paul Qui In Venice, Italy

We're plenty jealous of Paul Qui's last weekend, and for good reason: From June 13 to June 17, Austin chef Paul Qui was traipsing about Venice, Italy, visiting the canal-ridden city for the first time.

Granted, Qui was there working; the chef (who opens his namesake flagship Qui tomorrow) was competing at the 13th annual S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup, ultimately winning two awards out of three: the Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year award and Inside the Cooking award.

We chatted with the East Side King chef on the phone about his trip, recreating his experience via photos for a unique travel diary of the chef's excursions through Venice. On the docket: A trip to the farmers' market, some cooking on a boat, a sailing race from Malamocco to San Giorgio Island, and finally a gorgeous gala dinner at La Fenice Theatre, where Qui was awarded the winner of the Cooking Cup. "I was totally speechless, I didn't know what to say," Qui told us of that night.

Click through our slideshow to see how Paul Qui's trip to Venice went down.